Friday, January 26, 2007

Do you think the CEO’s in the automotive market will ever learn the lessons of the past? Every single time that oil supplies are threatened in the world smaller economic vehicles sales soar in America. It doesn’t matter what model or make it is. Americans vote with their wallets and when the price at the pump is cutting into the family budget then they go shopping for a vehicle that reflects the current circumstances. With the war in Iraq surpassing the five year mark and oil and gas prices that are up and down and all over the place you would think that Ford would have learned the lessons of the past and pushed economy over the full line of gas guzzlers they have on the lots. Nope, they are pushing bigger and bigger trucks that suck the go go juice down to no end.

Surprise of all time, the big three in Detroit are in trouble again. Ford and its profits are in the negative billions of dollars again and the stock is hovering around eight bucks a share. Just for fun Toyota is expected to surpass General Motors as the largest automaker in the world. Makes you wonder who was really looking at the big picture and who was partying it up with huge bonuses and corporate greed during the hey days of the recent past? This was posted over at the Washington Post about Ford...

Ford Motor yesterday reported a $12.7 billion loss for 2006, its biggest in its 103-year history, as the company struggles to correct strategic mistakes, fend off Asian rivals and remake itself into a smaller, more competitive automaker.

The loss, compared with a profit of $1.4 billion in 2005, underscores the difficulty of Ford's campaign to slash costs, reduce its workforce, close plants and re-engineer its assembly lines to adapt quickly to shifts in the marketplace. Ford hopes to emerge from its restructuring with a stronger lineup of smaller vehicles that offer better gasoline mileage. The strategy also would leave Ford with as little as 14 percent of the market in 2008, compared with 25 percent in the late 1990s.- Washington Post

Although it is a couple of years late, Ford will rethink its position in the market and focus on economic vehicles and what it does best. Selling a solid line of cars that are going to be more economical for the commuting middle and lower class that is loyal to a fault to Ford products.

Excellent blog and thanks for the opportunity to share my thoughts here. I am putting together a collection of photos and information on Lincoln vehicles and so far I managed to cover some of the models, and you will find some cool Lincoln Navigator photos, Lincoln Zephyr pictures and high resolution Lincoln MK9 photos. I hope you’ll find the website to be interesting, in case you want to pay it a visit.Enjoy your day!